ALFRED  TENNYSON 


Photograph  by 

The  London  Stereoscopic  Co. 


T 


ENNYSON 


G.    K.    CHESTERTON 

AND 

DR.     RICHARD    GARNETT,    C.B. 


WITH     NUMEROUS     ILLUSTRATIONS 


NEW    YORK 

JAMES    POTT   AND    COMPANY 

LONDON 

HODDER    AND    STOUGHTON 


C  5^  -2- 


PRINTED   BY 

•:LL,    WATSON    AND   VINEV, 

LONDUN    AND   AYLESBURY 

ENGLAND. 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 


Vi^FRED  Tennyson  ...... 

Phe  Brook  at  Somersbv        ...... 

^N  Early  Portrait  of  Tennyson         .... 

JOMERSBY  Rectory,  Lincolnshire  (where  Alfred  Tennyson  was  I) 


jomersby  Church  ........ 

\^LFRED  Tennyson  (from  the  painting-  by  Samuel  Laurence 
Tennyson's  Mother       ....... 

3ac;  Enderby  Church  ....... 

Alfred  Tennyson,  1838        .         .          .  .          .         . 

)ld  Grammar  School,  Louth        ..... 

\^RTHUR  H.   Hallam  (froui  the  bust  by  Chantrey) 

Alfred  Tennyson  (from  the  medallion  by  Thomas  Woolner,  R, 

Phe  Lady  of  SnALorr ....... 

["he  Palace  of  Art     ....... 

\lfred  Tennyson  (from  tlie  bust  by  Thomas  Woolner,  R 

^Iariana  in  the  South 

vrocKwoRTH  Mill  ........ 

Jlevedon  Church  ....... 

lERAINT    AND    EdYRN        ....... 

N  Memoriam  ("  Man  dies  :  nor  is  there  hope  in  dust '') 
N  Memoriam  ("Ring  out,  wild  bells,  to  the  wild  sky") 
^ADY  Tennyson     ........ 

ioRNCASTLE  (the  home  of  Emily  Sell  wood)  . 

262708 


A.) 


Front't 


)rn) 


A.) 


spiece 
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4. 


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18 

19 


iv  LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 

Grasby  Church     ........... 

Chapel  House,  Twickexha.m  (Tennyson's  first  lionie  after  liis  marriage) 
Elaine  ............. 

Alfred  Texxysox  (1867)      ......... 

Alfred  Texxysox  (from  a  portrait  by  G.  F.  Watts,  K.A.,  1859) 
Alfred  Texxysox  (from  the  chalk  drawing  bv  ]\I.   Arnault) 
Farrixgford  (Tennyson's  residence  at  Freshwater)  .... 

Tenx^'sox  (about  1871) 

Merlix  axd  \'iviex 

Facsimile  of  Texxysox's  MAXuscRiFr,  "  Crossixg  the  Bar  " 

Glade  at  Farrix(;ford  (fi-om  a  water-colour  drawing  by  ]Mrs.  Allingham) 

Freshwater  ........ 

Freshwater  Bay  ....... 

GuiXEVERE      ........ 

Alfred  Texxysox  ...... 

Tenny^son"'s  Laxe,  Haslemere        .... 

Aldworth  (Tennyson's  home  near  Haslemere) 

Tenny'son's  Memorial,  Beacox  Hill,  Freshwater 

Alfred  Texxysox  (from  a  portrait  by  G.  F.   Watts,  R.A.) 


PAGE 

20 
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2.5 
26 
27 
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31 
32 
33 
33 
34 
35 


TENNYSON 


1 

1 

'     -JJ 

1 

i^^^^^^^^D 

^^^s^^^^ttm^'^uti 

^H 

M^te. 

'^^Sm 

■Kg .       « 

^P 

\    ^/t 

HBK^  ^1 

EL- 

I 


T  was  merely  the 
accident  of  his  hour, 
the  call  of  his  age,  which 
made  Tennyson  a  philo- 
sophic poet.  He  was 
naturally  not  only  a  pure 
lover  of  beauty,  but  a 
pure  lover  of  beauty  in  a 
much  more  peculiar  and 
distinguished  sense  even 
than  a  man  like  Keats,  or 
a  man  like  Robert  Bridges. 
He  gave  us  scenes  of 
Nature  that  cannot  easily 
be  surpassed,  but  he  chose 
them  like  a  landscape 
painter  rather  than  like  a 
religious  poet.  Above  all, 
he  exhibited  his  abstract  love  of  the  beautiful  in  one  most  personal 
and  characteristic  fact.  He  was  never  so  successful  or  so  triumphant 
as  when  he  was  describing  not  Nature,  but  art.  He  could  describe 
a  statue  as  Shelley  could  describe  a  cloud.  He  was  at  his  very 
best  in  describing  buildings,  in  their  blending  of  aspiration  and 
exactitude.  He  found  to  perfection  the  harmony  between  the 
rhythmic  recurrences  of  poetry  and  the  rhythmic  recurrences  of 
architecture.  His  description,  for  example,  of  the  Palace  of  Art 
is   a   thing  enti-r'ely  victorious   and  unique.     The  whole   edifice,   as 


From  aJ)hoto  by  A/cssrs.  Cat  Hon  S^  Sons,  HoyiuaitL 
THE    BROOK  AT   SOMERSBY 


TEXXYSOX 


AX   EARLY 

PORTRAIT  OF 

TKNXYSON 

Rischgitz  Collection 


described,  rises  as  lightly  as  a  lyric,  it  is  full  of  the  surge  of  the 
hunger  for  beauty  ;  and  yet  a  man  might  almost  build  upon  the 
descrij^tion  as  upon  the  plans  of  an  architect  or  the  instructions 
of  a  speculative  builder.  Such  a  lo^'er  of  beauty  was  Tennyson, 
a  lover  of  beauty  most  especially  where  it  is  most  to  be  found,  in 
the  works  of  man.  He  loved  beauty  in  its  completeness,  as  we 
find    it    in    art,    not   in    its    more    glorious   incompleteness    as    we 


TENNYSON  3 

find  it  in  Nature.  There  is,  perhaps,  more  lovehness  in  Nature 
than  in  art,  but  there  are  not  so  many  lovely  tilings.  The 
loveliness  is  broken  to  pieces  and  scattered  :  the  almond  tree  in 
blossom  will  have  a  mob  of  nameless  insects  at  its  root,  and  the 
most  perfect  cell  in  the  great  forest-house  is  likely  enough  to 
smell  like  a  sewer.  Tennyson  loved  beauty  more  in  its  collected 
form  in  art,  poetry,  and  sculpture  ;  like  his  own  "  Lady  of  Shalott," 
it  was  his  office  to  look  rather  at  the  mirror  than  at  the  object. 
He  was  an  artist,  as  it  were,  at  two  removes  :  he  was  a  splendid 
imitator  of  the  splendid  imitations.  It  is  true  that  his  natural 
history   was    exquisitely    exact,    but    natural    history    and    natm-al 


F7  oin  a  fihoto  by  Messrs.  Carlton  &- 

SOMERSBY    RKCTOKY,    LINCOLNSHIRE 
Where  Alfred  Tennyson  was  born,  on  Sunday,  August  6th,  1809 


TENNYSON 


(Reproduced  from  "  The  Laureate's  Country,"  by  kind  permission  ot 
Messrs.  Seeley  &  Co.,   Ltd.) 


religion  are  things 
that  can  be,  under 
certain  circumstances, 
more  unnatural  than 
anything  in  the  world. 
I  n  reading  Tennyson's 
natural  descriptions 
we  never  seem  to  be 
in  physical  contact 
with  the  earth.  We 
learn  nothing  of  tlie 
coarse  good  -  temper 
and  rank  energy  of 
life.  We  see  the 
whole  scene  accurately,  but  we  see  it  through  glass.  In  Tennyson's 
works  we  see  Nature  indeed,  and  hear  Nature,  but  we  do  not  smell  it. 
But  this  poet  of  beauty  and  a  certain  magnihcent  idleness 
li\'ed  at  a  time  when  all  men  had  to  wrestle  and  decide.  It  is  not 
easy  for  any  person  who  lives  in  our  time,  when  the  dust  has  settled 

and  the  spiritual 
perspective  has  been 
restored,  to  realise 
what  tlie  entrance 
of  the  idea  of  evolu- 
tion meant  for  the 
men  of  those  days. 
To  us  it  is  a  discovery 
of  anotlier  link  •  in  a 
chain  which,  however 
far  we  follow  it,  still 
stretches   back  into  a 

Ffom  a  photo  by  Messrs.  Caylton  A'  Sons,  Horncastlc 

soMERSBY  CHURCH  di^  luc   mystcry.       To 


TENNYSON 


ALFRED 
TENNYSON 


From  the  painting  by 
Saiinicl  Laurence 


Rischgitz  Collection 


many  of  the  men  of  that  time  it  would  appear  from  their 
writings  that  it  was  the  heart-breaking  and  desolating  discovery 
of  the  end  and  origin  of  the  chain.  To  them  had  happened 
the  most  black  and  hopeless  catastrophe  conceivable  to  human 
nature;  they  had  found  a  logical  explanation  of  all  things.  To 
them  it  seemed  that  an  Ape  had  suddenly  risen  to  gigantic  stature 
and    destroyed  the  seven  heavens.     It  is  difficult,  no  doubt,  for  us 


TEXXYSON 


TENNYSON'S    MOTHER 


•  a  photo  by  Alessrs.  Carlton  &f  Sons,  Horncastle 
BAG  ENDERBY  CHURCH 


in.  somewhat  subtler  days  to  understand 
how  anybody  could  suppose  that  the 
origin  of  species  had  anything  to  do 
with  the  origin  of  being.  'J'o  us  it 
appears  that  to  tell  a  man  who  asks 
Avho  made  his  mind  that  evolution 
made  it,  is  like  telling  a  man  who 
asks  who  rolled  a  cab-wheel  o\qv  his 
leg  that  revolution  rolled  it.  To  state 
the  process  is  scarcely  to  state  tlie 
agent.  But  the  position  of  those  who 
regarded  the  opening  of  the  "  Descent 
of  Man  "  as  the  opening  of  one  of  the 
seals  of  the  last  days,  is  a  great  deal 
sounder  than  people  have  generally 
allowed.  It  has  been  constantly 
supposed  that  they  were  angry 
with  Darwinism  because  it 
appeared  to  do  sometJiing  or 
other  to  the  Book  of  Genesis  ; 
but  this  was  a  pretext  or  a  fancy. 
Tliey  fundamentally  rebelled 
against  Darwinism,  not  because 
they  had  a  fear  that  it  would 
affect  Scripture,  but  because 
they  had  a  fear,  not  altogether 
unreasonable  or  ill-founded,  that 
it  would  affect  morality.  JNIan 
had  been  engaged,  through  in- 
numerable ages,  in  a  struggle 
with  sin.  The  evil  within  him 
was  as  strong  as  he  could  cope 


TENNYSON 


ALFRED 
TENNYSON, 


From  an  early 
Daguerreotype 
(Reproduced 
from  "Tennyson: 
a  Memoir,"  by 
kind  permission 

of  Messrs. 

MacmillanS:  Co., 

Ltd.) 


with — it  was  as  powerful  as  a  cannonade 
and  as  enchanting  as  a  song.  But  in  this 
struggle  he  had  always  had  Nature  on  his  side. 
He  might  be  polluted  and  agonised,  but  the 
flowers  were  innocent  and  the  liills  were 
strong.  All  the  armoury  of  life, 
the  spears  of  the  pinewood  and 
the  batteries  of  the  lightning,  went 
into  battle  beside  him.  Tennyson 
lived  in  the  hour  when,  to  all 
mortal  appearance,  the  whole  of 
the  physical  world  de- 
serted to  the  devil.  The 
universe,  governed  by 
A'iolence  and  death,  left 
man  to  flght  alone,  with 
a  handful  of  mytlis  and 
memories.  JNIen  had  now 
to  Avander  in  polluted 
flelds  and  lift  up  their 
eyes  to  abominable  liills. 
They  had  to  arm  them- 
selves against  the  cruelty 
of  flowers  and  the  crimes 
of  the  grass.  The  flrst 
bono  u  r , 
surely,  is  to 
those  who 
did  not  faint 
in  the  face 
of  that  con- 
founding 


OLD  GK'^MMAR 
SCHOOL,  LOUTH 

The  original  building, 

now  no  longer  in 

e.vistence,   where 

Tennyson  was  sent 

to  school  at  the 

age  of  seven 

(Reproduced  from 

"The  Laureate's 

Country,"  by  kind 

permission  of 

Messrs.  Seeley  & 

Co.,  Ltd.) 


8 


TENNYSON 


cosmic  betrayal ;  to  those  who 
sought  and  found  a  new  vantage- 
ground  for  the  army  of  A^irtue. 
Of  these  was  Tennyson,  and  it 
is  surely  the  more  to  his  honour, 
since  he  was  the  idle  lover  of 
beauty  of  whom  we  have  spoken. 
He  felt  that  the  time  called  him 
to  be  an  interpreter.  Perhaps 
he  might  e\'en  have  been  some- 
thing more  of  a  poet  if  he  had 
not  sought  to  be  something 
more  than  a  poet.  He  might 
ha\'e  written  a  more  perfect 
Arthurian  epic  if  his  heart  had 
been  as  much  buried  in  pre- 
historic sepulchres  as  the  heart 
of  INIr.  W.  B.  Yeats.  He  might 
ha^'e  made  more  of  such  poems 
as  "  The  Golden  Year "  if  his 
mind  had  been  as-  clean  of  meta- 
physics and  as  full  of  a  poetic 
rusticity  as  the  mind  of  AVilliam 
JNIorris.  He  might  have  been 
a  greater  poet  if  he  had  been 
less  a  man  of  his  dubious  and  rambling  age.  But  there  are  some 
things  that  are  greater  than  greatness  ;  there  are  some  things  tliat  no 
man  with  blood  in  his  body  would  sell  for  the  throne  of  Dante,  and 
one  of  them  is  to  fire  the  feeblest  shot  in  a  war  that  really  awaits 
decision,  or  carry  the  meanest  musket  in  an  army  that  is  really 
marching  by.  Tennyson  may  even  hiive  forfeited  immortality  :  but  he 
and  tlie  men  of  his  age  were  more  than  immortal ;  they  were  ali^■e. 


From  the  bust  by  Chantrcy 

ARTHUR   H.    HALLA.M 

(Reproduced  from    Hallam's  "  Remains,"  by  kind 

permission  of  Mr.  John  Murray) 


TENNYSON 


Tennyson  had  not  a  special  talent  for  being  a  philosophic  poet, 
but  he    had  a  special  vocation  for  being  a  philosophic  poet.     This 
may  seem  a  contradiction,   but  it  is  only  because  all  the  Latin  or 
Greek    words    we   use    tend    endlessly  to   lose   their   meaning.     A 
vocation   is    supposed    to   mean   merely   a   taste   or  faculty,  just  as 
economy   is    held    to   mean    merely  the    act    of  saving.       Economy 
means    the    management    of   a   house    or    community.       If    a   man 
starves    his   best   horse,    or  causes  his    best   workman   to    strike   for 
more  pay,   he  is  not  merely  unwise,  he  is  uneconomical.     So  it  is 
with  a  vocation.     If  this  country  were  suddenly  invaded    by  some 
huge    alien    and    conquering    population,    we    should    all    be    called 
to        become 
soldiers.     AVe 
should  not  think 
in      that      time 
that     we     ^^'ere 
sacrificing     our 
unfinished  work 
on  Cattle-Feed- 
ing or  our  hobby  ; 
of  fretwork,  our  ' 
brilliant      career 
at    the    Bar    or 
our      taste      for 
painting     in 
water  -  colours. 
We    should    all 
have    a    call    to 
arms.         We 
should,  however,      ^      ^,      ^  „.    ,  ^,       „^  ,      ^  , 

'  From  the  mcdalhon  hy  Thomas  Woolner,  R.A. 

by     no      means  alfred  tennyson 

Qrpy»£i£i       +1-..1-J-         -xxTn  (Reproduced  from  "Tennyson's  Poems,"  by  kind  permission  of 

agree    tnat     we  m^,,,3_  Macminan  &  co.,  Ltd.) 


10 


TENNYSON 


THE   LADV   OF 
SHALOTT 

From  a  drawing  hy 
II'.  Hobnan  Hunt 

(Reproduced  from 

"  Teiinyion's  Poems," 

by  kind  permission  of 

Messrs.  Macmillan&Co., 

Ltd.) 


all  had  a  vocation  for  arms.     Yet  a  vocation  is  only  the  Latin  for 
a  call. 

In  a  celebrated  passage  in  "  JNIaud,"  Tennyson  praised  the 
moral  effects  of  war,  and  declared  that  some  great  conflict  miglit 
call  out  the  greatness  e^-en  of  the  paciflc  swindlers  and  sweaters 
whom  he  saw  around  him  in  the  Commercial  age.  He  dreamed, 
he  said,  that  if — 

.   .   .   The  })attle-])()lt   sang  fVoin  the  three-decker  out   on  the  foam, 
Many  a  smooth-faced,  snub-nosed  rogue  would  leap  from  his  coiniter 

or  till, 
And  strike,  were  it  but  with  his  cheating  vard-wand,  home. 

Tennyson  lived  in  the  time  of  a  conflict  more  crucial  and  frightful 


TENNYSON 


11 


THE    PALACE  OF 
ART 

From  a  draiving  by 
Dante  Gabriel  Rossetti 

(Reproduced  from 

"Tennyson's  Poems," 

by  kind  permission  of 

Messrs.  Macmillan&  Co., 

Ltd.) 


than  any  European  struggle,  the  conflict  between  the  apparent 
artificiality  of  morals  and  the  apparent  immorality  of  science.  A 
ship  more  symbolic  and  menacing  than  any  foreign  three-decker 
hove  in  sight  in  that  time — the  great,  gory  pirate-ship  of  Nature, 
challenging  all  the  civilisations  of  the  world.  And  his  supreme 
honour  is  ^this,  that  he  behaved  like  his  own  imaginary  snub-nosed 
rogue.  His  honour  is  that  in  that  hour  he  despised  the  flowers 
and  embroideries  of  Keats  as  the  counter-jumper  might  despise  his 
tapes  and  cottons.  He  was  by  nature  a  hedonistic  and  pastoral 
poet,  but  he  leapt  from  his  poetic  counter  and  till  and  struck,  were 
it  but  with  his  gimcrack  mandolin,  home. 


12 


TENNYSON 


Tennyson's  influence 
on  poetry  may,  for  a 
time,  be  modified.  This 
is  the  fate  of  every  man 
who  throws  himself  into 
his  own  age,  catches  the 
echo  of  its  temporary 
phrases,  is  kept  busy  in 
battling  with  its  tem- 
porary delusions.  There 
are  many  men  whom 
liistory  has  for  a  time  for- 
gotten to  M'hom  it  owes 
more  than  it  could  count. 
But  if  Tennj^son  is  extin- 
guished it  will  be  with 
tlie  most  glorious  extinc- 
tion. There  are  two 
ways  in  which  a  man 
may  vanish  —  tln-ough 
])eing  thoroughly  con- 
quered or  through  being 
thoroughly  the  Conqueror. 
In  the  main  tlie  great 
Broad  Church  philosophy 
which  Tennyson  uttered  has  been  adopted  by  every  one.  This  will 
make  against  his  fiune.  For  a  man  may  vanish  as  Chaos  vanished 
in  tlie  face  of  creation,  or  he  may  vanish  as  God  vanished  in  filling 
all  things  with  that  created  life. 

G.  K.  Chestektox. 


ALFRED   TENNYSON 


A  marble  bust,  copied  bj'  Miss  Grant  trom  the  original,  sculptured 
from  life  in  1857  by  Thomas  Woolner,  R.A. 


Rischgitz  Collection 


TENNYSON 
AS    AN    INTELLECTUAL    FORCE 

IT  is  easy  to  exji<><>erate,  and  equally  easy  to  underrate,  the 
influence  of  Tennyson  on  his  age  as  an  intellectual  force.  It 
will  he  exaggerated  if  we  regard  liini  as  a  great  original  mind,  a 
proclainier  or  revealer  of  novel  truth.  It  will  he  underrated  if  w^e 
overlook  the  great  part  reser\'ed  for  liini  who  reveals,  not  new 
truth   to    the    age,    hut    the    age    to    itself,   hy  presenting   it  with  a 


MARIANA    IN   THE 

SOUTH 

From  a  drawing  hy 
Dante  Gabriel  Rossetti 

(Reproduced  from 

"Tennyson's  Poems," 

by  kind  permission  of 

Messrs.  Macmillan&  Co., 

Ltd.) 


14 


^l•:^^^  SON 


>1ULK\\URI11    .MILL 

(Reprodiited  from  "  Tlie  Homes  .-iiid  Haunts  of  Alfred,  Lord  Tennyson,"  by  kind 

permission  of  Mr.  Cc.r^c  ('•.  Niipier  and  Messrs.  James  Maclehose  iv;  Sons) 

cjuinot.    indeed.   ])e  so   dominant    us  tlieirs. 
fai-   inoi-e  afHiient   in  literary  genins  than  the 
P()])e  :  and  Tennyson  appears  as  but  one  of 
of   whom    surpass    him    in    native    foree    of 
endowment.      Hut  when  we  measure  these  i 


CLEVEDOX   CHURCH 

of  Arthur  Hallam  were  finally  laid  to  rest  on 

January  3rd,  1834 

(Reproduced  from  "  The  Homes  and  Haunts  of  Alfred,  Lord  Tennyson,"  by  kind 

permission  of  Mr.  George  G.  Napier  and  Messrs.  James  Maclehose  &  Sons) 


miniature  of  its  own 
hi;(hest,  and  frequently 
uncoMscious.  tenden- 
cies and  aspirations. 
Xot  Dryden  or  Pope 
were  more  intimately 
associated  witli  their 
respeeti\e  ages  than 
Teimyson  with  that 
})rilliant  period  to 
wjiieh  we  now  look 
back  as  the  age  of 
A'ietoria.  His  figure 
The  Victorian  era  was 
periods  of  Dryden  and 
a  splendid  group,  some 
mind  and  intellectual 
Uustrious  men  with  the 
spirit  of  their  age,  we 
})erceive  that  —  with 
the  exception  of 
Dickens,  who  paints 
the  manners  rather 
than  the  mind  of  the 
time,  and  ^lacaulay. 
who  reproduces  its 
a\'erage  but  not  its 
higher  mood  —  there 
is  something  as  it 
were  sectarian  in 
them  which  pre\ents 
their    being    accepted 


16 


TKXXYSON 


as  rcpresentutives  of 
their  epoch  in  the 
fullest  sense.  In 
some  instanees,  sueh 
as  Carlyle  and 
Hrownino-  and 
Thaekeray,  the 
cause  may  be  an 
exceptional  orioinal- 
ity  \er<»ini>"  upon 
_  eccentricity;     in 

DllY^^^^^^^^^^x^^^JMr"^^^     ^**'^^''"^*    ''^^'   (Tcorge 
_H\\\l  (  /V^99?^^^*^^H     ^^W\   KU^L^^^      Kliot,     it     may     l)e 

allegiance  to  some 
particidar  scheme  of 
thought ;  in  others, 
hke  II  n  skin  and 
Matthew  Arnold, 
exclusive  devotion 
to  some  particular 
mission.  In  Tenny- 
son, and  in  him 
alone,  we  find  the 
man  who  cannot  he 
identified  with  any 
one  of  the  many 
tendencies  of  the 
age,  but  lias  affini- 
ties with  all..  Ask 
for  the  comj^osition 
which  of  all   contemporary  comj)ositions  bears  the   Victorian   stamp 


From  a  dyaiving  by  A.  Caitk  Jones 

IN    MEMORIAM 
"  Man  dies:    nor  is  there  hope  in  dust  " 
(Reproduced  from  the   Caxton  Series  Edition  of  Tennyson's 


by  kind  permission  of  Messrs.   (leorg 


Ne 


"In  Memoriam. 
Ltd.) 


most  unmistakably,  which  tell,'- 


iiost  respecting  the  age's  thoughts 


TENNYSON 


17 


respec'tino-  itself,  and 
there  will  be  little 
hesitation  in  naming 
-Loeksley  Hall." 

Tennyson  re- 
turns to  his  times 
what  he  has  received 
from  them,  but  in  an 
ex(|uisitely  embel- 
lislied  and  purified 
condition  :  he  is  the 
mirror  in  whicli  tlie 
lu^c  contemplates  all 
tliat  is  best  in  itself. 
Matthew  Arnold 
woidd  perhaps  not 
have  been  wrono-  in 
declinin<»-  to  recoff- 
nise  Tennyson  as 
"  a  great  and  power- 
ful  spirit  "  if 
'*  power "  had  been 
the  indispensable 
condition  of  "  great- 
ness '" ;  but  he  forgot 
that  the  receptive 
poet  may  be  as 
potent  as  the 
creative.  His  ca\il 
might  with  equal 
propriety  ha\'e  been  aimed  at  ^^irgil.  In  truth,  Tennyson's  fame 
rests    upon    a   securer   basis    than    that    of   some   greater   poets,    for 


^gX„                                ^ 

nw^ 

V     ...  ^^^^£^^^^%d 

Wz 

.^^^^^^ 

by  A. 


(Reproduced  fruni  the  Caxton   Series  Ed 
by  kind    permission   of  Mess 


rth  Jones 

IN    MEMORIAM 

,   wild  bells,   to  the  wild  sky  " 

II  of  Tennyson's  "In  Mt 
George,  Newnes,  Ltd.) 


18 


TEXXVSOX 


acquaintance 
witli  him  will 
always  ])e  in- 
dispensable 
totlie  liistoiy 
o  f  til  ought 
and  culture 
in  Knuland. 
\\liat  George 
Kliot  and  An- 
thony Trol- 
lope  are  for 
tlie  manners 
of  the  period, 
he  is  for  its 
mind  :  all  the 
ideas  Avliich 
in  his  day 
ciiieHy  moved 
the  elect 
s  ])  i  r  i  t  s  of 
English  so- 
ciety are  to 
})e  found  in 
him,    clothed 

in  the  most  exquisite  language,  jind  embodied  in  tlic  most  consummate 
form.  Tliat  tliey  did  not  oi-iginate  with  him  is  of  no  consequence 
whatever,  ^^e  cannot  consider  him,  regarded  merely  as  a  poet,  as 
quite  upon  the  level  of  his  great  immediate  predecessors  :  but  the 
total  disappearance  of  any  of  these,  cxce})t  A\^:>rdsworth.  would 
leave  a  less  painful  ])lank  in  our  intellectual  history  than  the 
disappearance  of  Tenn}'son. 


/-V-i'w     ///,  portrait  at  Aldworth  hy  G.  F.    Watts,  R.A. 

LADv  tp:nxvsox 


TENNYSON 


19 


HORNCASTI.E 

The  home  i)f  Emily  StlKvood,   afterwards  Lady  Tennyson 
(Reproduced  from   "The   Laureate's  Country,"  Ijy  kind  permission  cf  Messrs. 


Seelcy  c»t  Co.,  Ltd.) 


Beginning,  even  in  his  crndest  attempts,  with  a  manner  dis- 
tinctly his  own,  he  attained  a  style  which  could  be  mistaken  for 
that  of  no  predecessor  (though  most  curiously  anticipated  by  a  few 
blank-verse  lines  of  William  Blake),  and  which  no  imitator  has 
been  able  to  rival.  AA^iat  is  most  truly  remarkable  is  that  while 
much  of  his  poetry  is  perliaps  the  most  artificial  in  construction  of 
any  in  oiu*  language,  and  much  again  wears  the  aspect  of  bird-like 
spontaneity,  these  contrasted  manners  e\  idently  proceed  from  the 
same  writer,  and  no  one  would  think  of  ascribing  tliem  to  different 
hands.  As  a  master  of  blank  verse  Tennyson,  though  perhaps  not  fully 
attaining  the  sweetness  of  Coleridge  or  the  occasional  grandeur  of 
Wordsworth  and  Shelley,  is  upon  the  whole  the  third  in  our  language 
after  Shakespeare  and  JNIilton,  and,  unlike  Shakespeare  and  Milton,  he 
has  made  it  difficult  for  his  successors  to  write  blank  verse  after  him. 


20 


TEXXVSOX 


ion  0/  rn,   Act:  A.  II  .  11  o> k, 

"grasp.y  church 


Tennyson  is  es- 
sentially a  e()inj)()site 
poet.  Dryden's  famous 
verses,  grand  in  ex- 
pression. ])ut  question- 
able in  their  applica- 
tion to  Milton,  are 
perfectly  applicable 
to  liim  :  save  that,  in 
making  him,  X^ature 
did  not  com})ine  two 
])oets.  but  many. 
Tiiis  is  a  common 
phenomenon  at  tlie  close  of  a  great  epoch  :  it  is  almost  peculiar  to 
Tennys(m"s  age  that  it  should  then  have  heralded  the  appearance 
of  a  new  era  :  and  that,  sinuiltaneously  with  th.c  inheritor  of  the 
past,  perhaps  the  most  original  and  sclf-siifticing  of  all  ])()ets  should 
have  appeared  in  the  person  of  l^obcrt  l^rowning.  ^V  comparison 
between  these  illustrious   writers    would    lead    us    too    far ;  we  have 

already  implied  that 
Tennysori  occupies  the 
more  conspicuous  place 
in  Jiterary  history  on 
account  of  his  repre- 
sentati\e  character. 

The  first  import- 
ant recognition  of 
Tennyson's  genius 
came  from  Stuart  Mill, 
who,  partly  perhaps 
CHAPEL  HOUSE,  TWICKENHAM  uudcr  tlic  guidaucc  of 

Tennyson's  first  settled  home  after  his  marriage  ^w  rn         i  '„        J 

Rischgit.  Collection  Mrs.    1  ayloF,    evmced 


Frp7:i  a  dra^viiig  by  Gnstave  Dore 


(Reproduced  from  "  Illustrations  to  Tennyson's  'Idylls  of  the  King,'"  by  kind  permission  of  Messrs. 
Ward,  Lock  &  Co.) 


TENNYSON 


{i})out  1835  a  remarkable 
iiisioht  into  Shelley  Jind 
Hrowning  as  well  as 
Tennyson.  In  the  eourse 
of  his  observations  he  de- 
elared  that  all  that  Tenny- 
son needed  to  be  a  great 
poet  was  a  system  of 
philosophy,  to  wliieh  Time . 
would  certainly  conduct 
him.  If  he  only  meant 
that  Tennyson  needed 
"  the  years  that  bring  the 
philosophic  mind,"  the 
obser\'ation  was  entirely 
just ;  if  he  expected  the 
poet  either  to  evolve  a 
system  of  philosophy  for 
himself  or  to  fall  imder 
the  sway  of  some  great 
thinker,  he  was  mistaken. 
Had  Tennyson  done  either 
he  might  have  been  a 
very  great  and  very  inter- 
esting poet;  but  he  could  not  _have- been  the  poet  of  his  age:  for 
the  temper  of  tlie  time,  when  it  was  not  ^'iolently  partisan,  was 
liberally  eclectic.  There  was  no  one  great  leading  idea,  such  as 
that  of  evolution  in  the  last  quarter  of  last  centiuy,  so  ample 
and  so  characteristic  of  the  age  that  a  poet  might  become  its 
disciple  witliout  yielding  to  party  what  was  meant  for  mankind. 
Two  chief  currents  of  tliought  there  were  ;  but  they  were  antag- 
onistic,    even    though     Mr.     Gladstone     has     J)ro^  ed    that    a    very 


a  pJH>togyaJ>h  in   1867  /•_)'  Mrs.  Julia  Margaret  Came. 

ALFRED   TENNYSON 
(Reproduced  liy  permission  of  Mr.  J.  Caswall  Smith) 


TEXXVSON 


23 


exceptional  mind  miolit 
find  room  for  both. 
Xothino-  was  more  cliar- 
acteristic  of  the  age  than 
the  reaction  towards 
medifbval  ideas,  headed  by 
Xewman,  except  the  rival 
and  seemingly  incom- 
patible gospel  of  "  tlie 
railway  and  tlie  steam- 
ship "  and  all  their  corol- 
laries. It  cannot  be  said 
that  Tennyson,  like 
Gladstone,  found  equal 
room  for  both  ideals  in 
his  mind,  for  until  old 
age  had  made  him  mis- 
trustful and  querulous  he 
was  essentially  a  man  of 
progress.  But  his  choice 
of  the  Arthurian  legend 
for  what  he  intended  to 
be  his  chief  work,  and  the 
sentiment  of  many  of  his 

most  beautiful  minor  poems,  show  what  attraction  the  mediicval 
spirit  also  possessed  for  him  ;  nor,  if  he  was  to  be  in  truth  the 
poetical  representative  of  his  period,  could  it  have  been  otherwise. 
He  is  not,  however,  like  Gladstone,  alternately  a  mediaeval  and  a 
modern  man ;  but  he  uses  mediaeval  sentiment  with  exquisite 
judgment  to  mellow  what  may  appear  harsh  or  crude  in  the  new 
ideas  of  political  reform,  diffusion  of  education,  mechanical  inven- 
tion,   free    trade,  and    colonial    expansion.       The  ^"ictorian,   in    fact, 


the  /lortrait  in  the  possession  of  Lady  Henry  Somerset, 
painted  by  G.  F.    IVatts,  J^.A.,  in  1859 
ALFRED   TENNYSON 


'he  chalk  thawing  h' 


M    Arnanlt  in  ih. 


Xationai  Portiait  CilUry 


ALFRED    TENNYSON 

Rlscbi;iu  Collection 


TENNYSON 


25 


photo  hy  Messrs.  F.  Frith  Ss'  Co.,  Reigate 

FARRINGFORD 
Tennyson's  residence  at   Freshwater 

finds  himself  nearly  in  the  position  of  tiic  Elizjibetlian.  wlio  also 
had  a  future  and  a  past  ;  and,  exeept  in  his  own,  there  is  no  age 
in  which  Tennyson  would  have  felt  himself  more  at  home  than  in 
the  age  of  Elizabeth.  He  does,  indeed,  in  "  Maud "  react  very 
vigorously  against  certain  tendencies  of  the  age  which  he  disliked  ; 
but  this  is  not  in  the  interest  of  the  mediaeval  or  any  other  order 
of  ideas  incompatible  with  tlie  fullest  development  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.  If  the  utterance  here  appears  passionate,  it  must 
be  remembered  that  the  poet  writes  as  a  combatant.  AN^hen  he 
constructs,  there  is  nothing  more  characteristic  of  him  than  his 
sanity.  The  views  on  female  education  propounded  in  *'  The 
Princess  "  are  so  sound  that  good  sense  has  supplied  the  place  of 
the  spirit  of  prophecy,  which  did  not  ta})ernacle  with  Tennyson. 
••In  JMemoriam "  is  a  most  perfect  expression  of  the  average^ 
tlieological  temper  of  England  in  the  nineteenth  century.  As 
in    composition,    so    in    spirit,     Tennyson's    writings    have    all    the 


26 


TKXXVSOX 


achantiiges  and  all 
tlie  disachantagesof 
tlie  <>()ldeii  mean. 

15y  virtue  of  tills 
*^()ldeii  mean  Ten- 
nyson remained  at 
an  equal  distance 
from  re\'olution  and 
reaction  in  his  ideas, 
and  equally  remote 
from  extra\'agance 
and  insipidity  in  his 
work.  He  is  es- 
sentially a  man  of 
the  new  time ;  he 
begins  his  career 
steeped  in  the  in- 
fluence of  Shelley 
and  Keats,  without 
whom  he  would 
never  have  attained 
the  height  he  did — 
a  height  neverthe- 
less, in  our  o])inion,  a])precial)ly  below  theirs,  if  he  is  regarded 
simply  as  a  })oet.  Hut  he  is  a  poet  and  nuich  else ;  he  is  the 
interpreter  of  the  N'ictorian  era — firstly  to  itself,  secondly  to  the 
ages  to  come.  Had  even  any  poet  of  greater  genius  than  himself 
arisen  in  his  own  day,  which  did  not  ha])pen,  he  would  still  have 
remained  the  national  ])oct  of  tlic  time  in  virtue  of  his  univcrsalityj_ 
Some  personal  friends  splcndtdc  iiiokIuccs  have  hailed  him  as  our 
greatest  poet  since  Shakespeare.  'I'll is  is  absurd  :  but  it  is  true 
that    no    other    })()et    since    Shakespeare    has    produced    a    body    of 


a  photo  by  ISlrs.  Julia   Murrain   (  aiinroii 

TEXXVSOX    (Ai.ouT  1071) 
(Reproduced  by  permission  of  .Mr.   J.   Caswall  Smith) 


28  TENNVSOX 

Cui^W^     iU   thl^.  poetry  wliich 


comes  SO  near 
to  satisfyiiio- 
all     tastes,_- 


>5     .  ^  recoil  eiliiiff 

^h^   fr^    iUu   U   n€>   Tn.Q-uru^    ^ /U   trc^,^  eies.     and 

'v^i*^    7/W  f^   (^   p^^  registering 

every  mo^'e- 

7nU.ir^           ^^    '"^  ^^^                intellectual 

^^'\^^'^^^r^.  life    of     the 

^n^   l^cA   ^h..  frrc.    rU    /^  ^.^.^^^^     ,       period.    Had 

«W^    iLf/UA>    hfjfu.  ^^  l^i'^  mental 

balance  been 

'^^^    V   ^^Wf     UU,  ^^"'^    acciir- 

W^    >^    ^,^,  ately  poised. 

A    ,    ,         J,  lie    111  milt 


^  y       y  /  ^wwL>^^  have    been 

'*''*<^    ^   e^^niiAH:'.  the    laureate 

of  a  party. 
l)ut  he  could 
not     have 


J^  firr,*' fr,^^  C<^  ^  ^^  J^^^       bcoi,     the 

-^    M^    i:  J<.    ^    C  ,^       '  laui-eateof 

V'-^rt  ^^        ^,  the      nation. 

'^  ^  !U    ^  ^   ^_^        V*^^  As  an  Intel- 

A   FACSIMILE   OF   TENNVSOXS    MAXUSCRIPT,    "CROSSING   THE    EAR  -  Icctual     foiTC 

(Rep'oduced  from  "Tennyson:  A  Memoir,"  by  kind  permission   of  hc  is  WP 

Messrs.   MacmiUan  .^   Co.,   Ltd.)  _ 

think,  des- 
tnied  to  be  powerful  and  durable,  because  the  charm  of  his  poetry 
will    always    keep    his    ideas    before    the    popular    niind  ;    and    these 


TENNYSON 


29 


ideas  will  always  be 
congenial  to  the  solid, 
practical,  robnst,  and 
yet  tender  and 
emotional  mind  of 
England.  They  may 
be  briefly  defined  as 
the  recognition  of  the 
association  o  f  c  o  n  - 
tiniiity  with  mutability 
in  hnman  institntions  ; 
the  ntmost  reverence 
for  the  past  combined 
with  the  fnll  and  not 
regretfid  admission 
that — 

The     old     order     changes, 

giving-  plafe  to  new, 
And    God    fulfils    Himself 

in   nianv   ways  ; 

the  conception  of 
Freedom  as  something 
that  "  broadens  down, 
from  precedent  to  pre- 
cedent "  ;  veneration 
for  "the  Throne  nn- 
shaken  still,"  so  long  as  it  continues  "  broad-based  upon  the  People's 
will,"  which  will  always  be  the  case  so  long  as 

Statesmen  at  the  Council   meet 
Who  know    the  seasons. 

Philosophically  and  theologically,  Tennyson  is   even  more  con- 
spicuously the   representative  of  the    average   English    mind    of  his 

3 


'r-colflur  di-aiving  by  Mrs.  Allinglic 

THE   GLAUE   AT   FARRINGFORD 
(Reproduced  by  kind  permission  of  the  Artist) 


30 


TENNYSON 


rs.   J*'.   F>!th  c^  C';'.,   Rfi 
FRESHWATER 


day.  Not  that  he  is 
a  fusion  of  conflicting 
tendencies.  ])ut  tliat 
he  occupies  a  central 
position.  Cv^jually  re- 
mote from  the  ex- 
cesses of  scepticism 
and  the  excesses  of 
d  e  V  o  t  i  on  .  T  h  i  s 
position  lie  is  able  to 
fill  from  his  relation 
to  Coleridge,  the  great 
exponent  of  the  via 
media  :  not.  as  in  former  days,  between  Protestantism  and  Roman- 
ism. Ijut  Ijctween  orthodoxy  and  free  thought.  Tennyson  cannot, 
indeed,  be  termed  Coleridge's  intellectual  heir.  As  a  thinker 
he  is  far  below  his  predecessor,  and  almost  devoid  of  originality^ 
but  as  a  poet  he  fills  up  the  measure  of  what  was  lacking  in 
Coleridge,    whose    season    of  speculation    hardly    arrived    until    the 

season  of  poetry  was 
past.  Tennyson  was 
])ut  one  of  a  band  of 
auditors — it  might  be 
too  much  to  call  them 
disciples — of  the  sage 
who.  curiously  enough, 
had  himself  been  a 
Camln-idge  man.  and 
who.  short  and  un- 
satisfactory as  had 
been    his   residence    at 

photo  by  Messrs.  F.  Frith  &^  Co.   Rcigato 

FRESHWATER  BAY  that   scat    of   Icammg, 


From  a  draiving  by  Gustave  Dore 


GUINEVERE 


(Reproduced  from  the  "Illustrations  to  Tennyson's  '  Idylls  ot  the  King,'"  by  kind  permission  ot 
Messrs.  'Ward,  Lock  &  Co.) 


TENNYSOX 


33 


seemed  to  have  left 
behind  him  some  in- 
visible inflnence  des- 
tined to  germinate  in 
due  time,  for  all  his 
most  distinguished 
followers  were  Can- 
tabs.  Sueh  another 
sehool,  only  lacking  a 
poet,  had  flourished  at 
Cambridge  in  the 
seventeenth  century, 
and  now  came  up 
again  like  long-buried  seeds  in  a  newly  disturbed  soil.  The  precise 
value  of  their  ideas  may  always  be  matter  for  discussion ;  but 
they   exerted    without   doubt  a  happy  influence  by 

Turnini;'  to  scorn   witli   ]ij)s  divine 
The  fjilsehood  of  extremes. 


From  a  photo  by  tlie  C> aphotoiu    to. 

TENNYSON'S   LANE,    HASLEMERE 


providing  religious 
minds  reverent  of  the 
past  with  an  alterna- 
tive to  mere  medi- 
a^valism,  and  gently 
curbing  Science  in  the 
character  she  some- 
times assumes  of  "■  a 
wild  Pallas  of  the 
brain. "  AVhen  the 
natural  moodiness  of 
Tennyson's  tempera- 
ment is  considered,  the 


ALLiWuRTH 
Tennyson's  home  near  Haslemere 


34 


TENXYSOX 


p^e^'^llc^t  optimism  of  liis  ideas,  l^oth 
as  regards  the  individual  and  the 
State,  a])pears  infinitely  ereditable  to 
him.  These  are  ideas  natural  to 
sane  and  rdieeting  En()-lishmen,  un- 
ehallenged  in  quiet  times,  but  wliieh 
may  be  obscured  or  overwhelmed  in 
seasons  of  great  popular  excitement. 
The  intellectual  force  of  Tennyson  is 
perhaps  chiefly  shown  in  the  art  and 
attractiveness  with  which  they  are 
set  forth  ;  even  much  that  might 
hiivc  appeared  tame  or  prosaic  is 
invested  with  all  the  charms  of 
imagination,  and  commends  itself  to 
the  poet  equally  with  the  statesman. 
'I'ennyson  is  not  the  greatest  of  poets, 
but  appreciation  of  his  poems  is  one 
of  the  surest  criteria  of  poetical 
taste  ;  he  is  not  one  of  the  greatest 
of  thinkers,  but  agreement  with  his 
general  cast  of  thought  is  an  excel- 
lent proof  of  sanity  ;  many  singers 
]ia\e    been    more    Delphic    in    their 

inspiration,  but  few,  by  maxims  of  tenq^erate  wisdom,  have  provided 

their  native  land  with  such  a  Palladium. 

liR'HAl{l)    iTAKXpyrT. 


From  a  photo  by  Messrs.  F.  Frit  It  &^  Co., 
Reigaic 
TENNYSON'S   MEMORIAL,    BEACON 
HILL,    FRESHWATER 


Eomersby 
Rectory,  the 
birthplace  of 
Alfred  Tennyson 

see  page  3 


BIOGRAPHIC  A  L     NOTE 

Alfreil  Tennyson  was  Ixirii  (in  Sunday.  Auiiust  (itli,  IH(li),  at  Sdniersby, 
a  villag-e  in  Nitrth  Lincolnshire  between  Iloi-neastle  and  Spilsby.  His  father^ 
the  Rev.  Dr.  (ieorg-e  (  layton  Tennyson.  Rector  of  Soniershy,  mai-ried  in  I8O0 
P^lizabeth  Fytche,  daiiji-htcr  of  tlie  \'icar  (if  Lditth.  in  tlie  same  comity  ;  and, 
of  their  twelve  children.  Alfred  was  the  foui-tli. 


From  a  portrait  by  G.  F.   Watts, 


ALFRED   TENNYSON 
Risch£;itz  Collection 


36 


BIOGRAPHICAL     XOTE 


Somersby  Brook 

see  pagt  i 


Tennyson's 
Mother 

5ee  page  6 


Somersby 
Churcyi 


sec  page  4 


Bag  Enderby 
Church 


Louth 


-e  page  4 


The  Grammar 
School,  Louth 


He  always  sjxjke  witli  affectionate  renienilirance  of  liis  earl}'  lioiiie  :  oftlie 
woodbine  trained  round  liis  nursery  window  ;  oftlie  mediaeval-looking  dinin^- 
liall.  with  its  pointed  stained-glass  casements;  of  the  ])leasant  drawing-room, 
lined  ^\ith  bookshelves  and  furnished  Avith  yellow  upholstery.  The  lawn  in 
front  of  the  house,  where  he  composed  his  early  poem,  "A  Spirit  Haunts 
the  '\' ear's  Last  Hours^"  was  overshadowed  on  one  side  by  wych-elms,  on  the 
other  by  larch  and  sycamore  trees.  On  the  soutli  was  a  ])ath  bounded  by  a 
flower-l)order,  and  beyond  '^'^a  garden  l>ower"d  close"  >loi)ing  gradually  to  the 
field  at  the  bottom  of  which  ran  the  Somersby  Brook 

That  loves 
To  purl  o'er  matted  cress  and  ribbed  sand, 
Or  dimple  in  the  dark  of  rushy  coves, 
Drawing  inio  his  narrow  earthen  urn 

In  every  elbow  and  turn, 
The  filtered  tribute  of  the  rough  woodland. 


'Hie  ch, 
and  to 


nd  beauty  of  this  brook  haunted  the  poet  throughout  his  life, 
especially  dedicated,  "  Flo\\-  down,  cold  rivulet,  to  the  sea." 
Tennyson  did  not,  however,  attribute  his  famous  poem.  "The  Brook,"  to  the 
same  source  of  ins])iration.  declaring  it  \\as  not  addressed  to  any  stream  in 
particular. 

Tennyson  was  exceedingly  fortunate  in  the  environment  of  his  childhood 
and  the  early  influence  exercised  by  his  parents.  His  mother  was  of  a  sweet 
and  gentle  dispo.-ition,  and  devoted  herself  entirely  to  the  welfare  of  her 
husliand  and  her  chiblren.  Her  son  is  said  to  have  taken  her  as  a  model  in 
••The  Princess"  ;  and  he  certainly  gave  a  more  or  less  truthful  descrijrtion 
of  this  "  remarkable  and  saintly  woman"  in  his  poem  "  Isaliel"  : — 

Locks  not  wide-dispreid, 
Madonna-wise  on  either  side  her  head  ; 
Sweet  lips  whereon  perpetually  did  reign 
Tile  sunuiier  calm  of  golden  charity. 


ith 


<  a  man  of  marked  ])by>ical  >ti'engtii  and  stature, 
called  by  his  parishioners  "•The  stern  Doctor."  In  1!J()7  he  was  aj)pointed 
to  the  living  of  Somersby,  and  that  of  the  adjoining  village  of  Bag  Enderby, 
and  this  position  he  held  until  his  death,  on  March  Kith,  1881,  at  the  age  of 
tifty-two.  He  was  liuried  in  the  old  country  churchyard,  where  "absolute 
stillness  reians."  beneath  the  shade  of  tlu'  rugged  little  tower.  In  his  time 
the  roof  of  tlie  clair.'li  was  covereil  with  thatch,  as  were  also  those  of  the 
cottages  in  its  iumiediate  vicinity. 

The  livings  of  Somersl)y  and  Jiag  Enderby  were  held  conjointly,  service 
being  conducted  at  one  church  in  the  morning  and  at  the  other  in  the 
afternoon.  Dr.  Tennyson  read  his  sermons  at  Bag  Enderby  from  the  quaint 
liigb-built  pulpit,  Alfred  listening  to  them  from  the  squire's  roomy  pew. 

At  tlie  age  of  seven  Tennyson  was  sent  to  school  at  Louth,  a  market-tonn 
which  may  fairly  lay  claim  to  having  been  a  factor  of  some  importance  in  his 
early  life.  His  maternal  grandmother  lived  in  W'estgate  Place,  her  house 
being  a  second  home  to  the  young  Teiniysons.  The  old  (Jrannnar  School 
\\  here  Alfred  received  the  early  portion  of  his  education  is  imw  no  huiger  in 
existence.  Tennyson's  recollections  of  it  and  of  the  Rev.  J.  A\'aite.  at  that 
time  the  head-master,  were  not  pleasant.      '•How    1   difl   liate  tliat  school  I 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTE 


37 


Arthur  Hallam 
(from  the  bust  by 
Chantrey) 

see  page  8 


The  Lady  of 
Shalott 


•page 


he  wrote  later,  "'rhe  only  good  I  got  from  it  was  the  memory  of  the  words 
Sonus  dcsilieiitis  (i,,na;  and"  of  an  old  ^^■A\  co\ere(l  with  wild  weeds  opposite 
the  school  windows." 

Tennyson's  iirst  oonnet-ted  poems  were  composed  at  Louth,  and  ni  this 
town  also  his  hrst  pnhlislied  work  saw  the  light,  appearing  in  a  volume 
entitled  "Poems  by  Two  Brothers,"  issued  in  1827  hy  Mr.  J.  Jackson,  a 
bookseller.     The  two  brothers  were  Charles  and  Alfred  Tennyson. 

After  a  school  career  which  lasted  four  years,  Alfred  returned  to  Somersby 
to  continue  his  studies  inider  his  father's  tuition.  This  course  of  instruction 
was  supplemented  ])y  classics  at  the  hands  of  a  Roman  Catholic  ])riest.  and 
music-lessons  given  him  by  a  teacher  at  Horncastle. 

In  1828  Charles  and  Alfred  Tennyson  followed  their  elder  brother 
Frederick  to  Trinity  College,  Cambridge.  They  began  their  university  life 
in  lodgings  at  No.  12,  Rose  Crescent,  moving  later  to  Trumpington  !Street, 
No.  57,  Corpus  Buildings.  Of  his  early  experiences  of  life  at  Cambridge, 
Alfred  wrote  to  his  aunt :  "  I  am  sitting  owl-like  and  solitary  in  my  rooms 
(nothing  between  me  and  the  stars  but  a  stratum  of  tiles).  The  hoof  of 
the  steed,  the  roll  of  the  wheel,  the  shouts  of  drunken  Gown  and  drunken 
Town  come  up  from  below  with  a  sea-like  niurmui-.  .  .  .  The  country  is  so 
disgustingly  level,  the  revelry  of  the  place  so  monotonous,  the  studies  of  the 
University  so  uninteresting,  so  much  matter  of  fact.  None  but  dry-headed, 
calculating,  angular  little  gentlemen  can  take  much  delight  in  tliem." 

It  \\as  at  Trinity  College  that  Tennyson  iirst  made  the  acquaintance  of 
Arthur  Ilallam.  youngest  son  of  the  historian,  whose  friendship  so  profoundly 
influenced  the  poet's  character  and  genius.  '*  He  would  have  been  kno\\n  if 
he  had  lived,"  wrote  Tennyson,  "as  a  great  man,  l)ut  not  as  a  great  poet  ;  he 
was  as  near  perfection  as  mortal  man  could  be." 

In  February  1831  Tennyson  left  Cambridge  without  taking  a  degree,  and 
returned  to  Somersby,  his  father  dying  within  a  month  of  his  arrival.  From 
this  time  onAvard  Hallam  became  an  intimate  visitor  at  the  Rectory,  and 
formed  an  attachment  for  his  friend's  sister  Emily.  In  July  18:52  Teiniyson 
and  Hallam  went  touring  on  the  Rhine,  and  at  the  close  of  the  year  appeared 
the  volume  of  "  Poems  l>y  Alfred  Tennyson,"  which  contained,  amongst 
others,  "The  Lady  of  Sludott,"  "  Tlie  Miller's  Daughter,"  "The  Palace 
of  Art,"  "The  Lotos  Eaters,"  and  "A  Dream  of  Fair  Women." 

"  M'ell  I  remember  this  poem,"  wrote  Fitzgerald,  with  reference  to  "  The 
Lady  of  Shalott,"  "  read  to  me,  before  I  knew  the  author,  at  Cambridge  one 
niglit  in  1832  or  3,  and  its  images  passing  across  my  head,  as  across  the 
magic  mirror,  while  half  asleep  on  the  mail-coach  to  London  'in  tlie  creeping 
dawn  '  that  followed." 

There  she  \vea\es  by  night  and  day 
A  magic  web  with  colours  gay. 
She  has  heard  a  whisper  say, 
A  curse  is  on  her  if  she  stay 

To  look  down  to  Camelot. 
She  knows  not  what  the  curse  may  be, 
And  so  she  weaveth  steadily, 
And  little  other  care  hath  she, 

The  Lady  of  Shalott. 


'llu 


Mai 


tlie   South  "    came   to    Tennyson    as    he    was 


38 


BIOGRAPHICAL     XOTE 


"  Mariana  in  the 
South  " 


11  interpreted   it   to   1) 


Stockworth  Mill 


The  Palace  of  Art 

st;e  page  11 


Clevedon  Church 

Si- f  page  14 


In  Memoriam  " 

see  pages  16,  17 


The  home  of 
Emily  Sellwood, 
at  Horncastle 


tra\elliiiir  lietween  Xarbdiiiie  and   I'ei-pi^naii.      Ila 
tlie  "'  expression  of  desolate  loneliness." 

Till  all  the  crimson  changed,  and  past 
Into  deep  orange  o'er  the  sea, 

Low    on  hei-  knees  herself  she  cast, 

licfore  (  )ur  Lady  niurnnir'd  she; 
Coniplainins;,    "  Mothtr,  give  me  grace 

'I'o  htlp  me  of  my  «eary  load," 

And  on  the  liquid  mirror  glow'd 
The  clear  perfection  of  her  face. 

Of  these  earlier  poems  none  added  more  to  Tennyson's  growing  reputation 
than  ••  The  Miller's  Daiigliter."  It  was  prohahly  written  at  Cambridge,  and 
the  poet  declared  that  the  mill  was  no  particular  mill,  or  if  he  had  thought 
of  any  mill  it  was  that  of  Trum])ington,  near  ('aml)ridge.  Hut  various 
touches  in  the  poem  seem  to  indicate  that  the  haunts  of  his  boyhood  were 
present  in  his  mind. 

Htockworth  Mill  was  situated  about  two  miles  ahuig  the  b, 
Somersby  Brook,  the  poet's  favourite  walk,  and  might  very  well  li 
the  setting  of  these  beautifid  verses. 

I  loved  the  brimming  wave  that  swam 

Thro'  quiet  meadows  round  the  mill, 
The  sleepy  pool  above  the  dam, 

The  pool   briKMth  it  never  still. 
The  meal-^arks  on  the  whiten'd  floor. 

The  dark  lound  of  the  dripping  wheel. 
The  very  an-  about   the  door 

Made  nii>t\    with  the  floating  meal. 


dvs    of 


the 
red 


In  the  volume  of 
omitted,  because  Teni 
of  Art,'  "  he  wrote  in 
Godlike  life  is  witli  m; 


1U.")L',  se\eral  stanzas  of  " 
\s(tn  th(U!ght  the  poem  w; 
I<">1I0,  --is  the  embodinu'ut 
n  and  for  man." 


1 'a  lace 

of  Art"  were 

0  full. 

'"The  Palace 

nv  own 

belief  that  the 

'page 


Anuuigst  tlie  "  marvelhmsly  ccmipressed  w(n-d  pictures"  of  this  poem  is 
tlie  lieautiful  one  of  (uir  illustrati(»n  on  page  IL 

(  ir  ill  a  elear-wall'd  city  on  tlie  sea, 

Near  gilded  organ-pipes,  her  hair 
Wound  with  white  roses,  slept  St.  Cecily  ; 

An  angel  look'd  at  her. 

On  the  l.ith  of  September,  18:3.'^,  Arthur  Ilallam  died  suddenly  at  \'ienna. 
His  remains  were  bi-oiiglit  to  Kngland,  aiul  laid  finally  to  rest  in  the  old  and 
bmely  church  beside  tlie  sea  at  Clevedon,  on  January  ord,  1834. 

When  on  my  bed  the  moonlight  falls, 

I  know  that  in  thy  place  of  rest 

By  that  broad  water  of  the  west 
There  comes  a  glory  on  the  walls. 

Tennyson's  wlude  thoughts  were  absorbed  in  memm-ies  of  his  friend,  and 
he  continually  wrote  fragmentary  verses  on  the  one  theme  which  tilletl  his 
heart,  many  of  them  to  ])e  embodied  seventeen  years  later  in  the  cimipleted 
"  In  .MemoViam." 

In  lii.'iO  'I'ennyson  first  met  Kmily  Sellwood,  win.  twenty  years  later 
became  bis  wife.  Horncastle  was  the  nearest  town  to  Somers})y,  anil  in  the 
]>ictiiresque  old  market-scjuare  stood  the  red-brick  residence  of  Mr.  Henry 
Sellwood,  a  s(dicit<u-.  The  young  Sellwoods  being  nnudi  of  the  same  age  as 
theTennysons,  a  friendsliip  sprang  ujt  between  tlie  two  families,  wlii<di  in  later 


C  /'  ^ 


BIOGRAPHICAL     NOTE 


39 


Grasby  Church 

see  pitgc  20 


Lady  Tennyson 

seepage  18 


Chapel  House, 
Twickenham 


Farringford, 
Tennyson's 
residence  at 
Freshwater 

see  page  25 


The  Glade  at 
Farringford 

see  page  29 


was 
|-atinu 


I  ppc  tinted 
tor    -In 


matters.      '•  I  ai 
spiritual  nature, 


years  ripened  into  a  double  matrimonial  relationship.  In  18o(5,  Charles 
Tennyson,  the  poet's  elder  brother,  married  Louisa,  the  youngest  daughter  of 
Henry  Selhvood.  In  the  previous  year  lie  had  succeeded  to  the  estate  and 
living  of  (irasl)y,  taking  the  surname  of  Turner  under  his  great-uncle's  will. 
At  his  own  expense  he  built  the  vicarage,  the  church  and  the  schools  ;  and  on 
his  death,  in  1879,  Grasby  descended  to  the  Toet  Laureate.  It  was  at  his 
brother's  wedding  that  the  bride's  sister,  Emily,  ;\'as  taken  into  church  by 
Alfred  Tennyson,  but  no  engagement  was  recognised  between  them  until  four 
or  iive  years  later,  and  their  marriage  did  not  take  place  until  I80O.  It  was 
solemnised  at  Shiplake  Church  on  June  13th,  the  clergyman  who  officiated 
being  the  poet's  intimate  friend,  the  Rev.  Robert  Rawnsley. 

In  the  April  of  the  same  year,  on  the  deatli   of  Wordsworth,  Tennyson 
liad   lieen    offeretl    the    poet-laureateship,   to    wliicli    post 
on    November    IDth,   owing  chiefly  to   Prince    Albert's   ad 
Memoriam." 

Lady  Tennyson  became  the  poet's  adviser  in  literary 
proud  of  her  intellect,"  lie  wrote.  She,  with  her  "tender, 
was  always  by  liis  side,  cheerful,  courageous,  and  a  sympathetic  counsellor. 
She  shielded  his  sensitive  spirit  from  the  annoyances  and  trials  of  life  and 
"  her  faitli  as  clear  as  the  heights  of  the  June-blue  heaven"  helped  him  in 
hours  of  depression  and  sorrow. 

Chapel  House,  Twickenham,  was  the  poet's  first  settled  home  after  his 
marriage,  and  he  resided  in  it  Un-  three  years.  It  was  liere  his  '•  Ode  on  the 
Death  of  the  Duke  of  A\'ellington  "  was  written,  and  the  birth  of  his  son 
Ilallam  took  place  in  this  house  (m  August  11th,  I80L'. 

In  I8.5:?,  whilst  staying  in  the  Isle  of  U'ight,  Tennyson  heard  that  the 
residence  called  Farringford  was  to  let  at  Freshwater.  He  decided  to  take 
the  jilace  (  n  lease,  but  two  years  later  purchased  it  out  of  the  proceeds 
resulting  fnmi  ••  Maud,"  which  was  published  in  18.5.5,  and  Farringford 
remained  his  luime  during  the  greater  part  of  each  year  tor  forty  years,  and 
here  he  wi-ote  some  of  his  best-known  works. 

"The  house  at  Farringford,"  says  Mrs.  Richmond  Ritchie  in  her  AVco>v/.v, 
"seemed  like  a  charmed  jtalace,  with  green  walls  without,  and  speaking 
walls  within.  There  lunig  Dante  with  his  solemn  nose  and  wreath  ;  Italy 
gleamed  over  the  doorways  ;  friends'  faces  lined  the  passages,  books  filled 
the  shelves,  and  a  glow  tif  crimson  was  everywhere  ;  the  oriel  drawing- 
room  window  was  full  of  green  and  gtilden  leaves,  of  tlie  sound  of  birds  and 
of  the  distant  sea." 

The  grounds  of  Farringford  are  exceedingly  beautiful  and  picturesque. 
( )n  the  south  side  of  the  house  is  the  glade,  and  close  by 

The  waving  pine  which  here 
The  warrior  of  Caprera  set. 

Referring  to  Farringford  in  his  invitation  to  Maurice,  Tennyson  wrote — 

Where  far  from  noise  and  smoke  of  town 

I  watch  the  twilight  falling  brown 
All  round  a  careless  order' d  garden, 

Close  to  the  ridge  of  a  noble  down. 

llie  ridge  of  the  down  in  (juesticui  constituted  the  poet's  favourite  walk,  and 


40 


HIOCaiAPHICAL     NOTE 


Freshwater  Bay 

see  page  30 


Freshwater 
Village 

sec  page  30 


Alfred  Tonnyson 

see  pages  22  and  26 


"  The  Idylls  Of 
the  King  " 

see  pages  15,21 
27.  31" 


Aldworth 

seepage  33 


Tennyson's  Lane 

see  page  33 


Tennyson's 
Memorial, 
Bea,con  Hill, 
Freshwater 


Alfred  Tennyson 
( from  the  paint- 
ing by  Samuel 
Laurence) 


•  iiiitt'i'ed 


seepo 


Alfred  Tennyson 
(from  the  paint- 
ing by  G.  F.  Watts 
in  1859) 


■page2i 


i-t'jjre 


■it'lltlMl    ill   tl 


1111(1    Freslnvater  May  mitflit  we] 
)f  "  Enoch  Ardt'ii  " — 


Long  lines  of  cliff  breaking  have  left  a  chasin  ; 
And  in  the  chasm  are  foam  and  yellow  sands. 


Iiil; 


-  t(.  the  1 
Kiiises  t'\' 


ttk'  \  illag-e  of  Freshwater,  in  which  the  erection 
iked  from  the  poet  the  lines — 


Yonder  lies  our  young  sea-vdlage— . 
Science  grows  and  Beautv  dwindles 


Art 


and  Grace  are  less  and  less; 
)ofs  of  slated  hideousness  ! 


Opposite  these  villas  stands  an  ivy-clad  house  at  that  time  occupied  liy 
Mrs.  .Tulia  Cameron,  the  celebrated  lady  art-photogra])lier,  t\\()  of  whose 
effective  portraits  of  Tennyson  appear  on  pages  22  and  2(5. 

Ill  tlie  autumn  of  I80!),  "  The  Idylls  of  the  King'  "  were  first  issued  in  tlieir 
oriiiiiial  f(U-m.  IteiiiiJ:  four  in  numlier  :  Knid,  X'ivien,  Elaine,  and  (Jiiinevere, 
and  fnmi  their  piihlication  until  the  end  of  'IViinyson's  life  liis  fame  and 
popularity  continued  withcuit  a  check.  During  the  next  ft'w  years  the  poet 
spent  much  time  in  travelling-,  but  in  1808  he  laid  the  foundation-stone  of  a 
new^  residence,  nam&d  Aldworth,  about  two  miles  from  Haslemere,  which 
l>ecame  his  second  home — 

You  came,  and  look'd  and  loved  the  view 

"Long-known  and  loved  by  me. 
Green  Sussex  fading  into  blue. 
With  one  grey  glimpse  of  sea. 

On  the  way  from  Haslemere  to  Aldworth,  it  is  necessary  to  cross  a  rough 
coininoii  c()\ered  with  whin  l)ushes  to  reacli  the  long  winding  lane  which  A\'as 
This  was  the  poet's  favourite  walk  when  living  in 


named  Tennysini's   Lair 
the  neighliourliood. 

Tennyson  died  on 
Poets'  Corner,  A\'estmi 
Chaucer  monument. 
A\  i)olnei"'s  ^^'ell-kllo^\■n 
jM.et     on     Beacon     Hill 


i'lnirsday,  October  Cth,  181)2,  and  was  buried  in  tlie 
lister  Abbey,  ne.vt  to  Robert  Browning,  and  near  the 
\gaiiist  the  pillar  close  by  the  grave  has  been  placed 
bust.  The  monument  erected  to  the  memory  of  tlie 
,     near    Freshwater,    was  unveiled    by   the   Dean    of 


Westminster  on  August  6th,  18J)7. 

A\'ith  regard  to  the  portraits  of  Tennyscui  reproduced  in  these  pages, 
perhaps  those  of  chief  interest  in  addition  to  tlie  Cameron  photographs  already 
referred  to  are  the  paintings  by  Samuel  Laurence,  executed  about  IHoH,  and 
the  three-quarter  length  by  (r.  F.  A\' alts,  now  in  the  2Ji's?*^f*'''i<'ii  <>f  Lady 
Henry  yomerset.     Of  the  former  Fitzgerald  wrote: 

"Very  imperfect  as  Laurence's  portrait  is,  it  is  nevertheless  the  litwf 
painted  portrait  I  have  seen  ;  and  certainly  the  011/1/  one  of  old  days. 
'  Bluhber-lipt '  I  remember  oiici'  Alfred  called  it  ;  so  it  is;  but  still  tlie  only 
one  of  old  days,  and  still  the  liest  of  all,  to  my  thinking." 

The  AVatts  portrait,  according  to  Mr.  AA'atts-Dunton,  possesses  '"  a  certain 
dreaminess  wliich  suggests  the  poetic  glamour  of  moonliglit."  The  same 
writer  asserts  that  "  while  most  faces  gain  by  the  artistic  halo  which  a  painter 
of  genius  always  sheds  over  his  \^■ork.  there  are  some  few,  sonu>  \ery  i'ew  faces 
tluit  do  not,  and  of  tliese  Lord  '1  ViinysDn's  is  tlie  most  notable  tliat  I  lia\  e 
ever  seen  among  men  of  great  renown.  ' 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 
BERKELEY 

Return  to  desk  from  which  borrowed. 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


"Pft  ^7  1948 


LIBRARY  USE 

NOV    3 


LIBRARY  use; 

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REC'D  LD 

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